


When Rituals Collide, Good Things Can Happen

by startabby



Category: Discworld - Terry Pratchett, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: All Souls Night Rituals, Alternate Universe, Black Family Values, Covens, DEATH is Longsuffering, Dimensional Gateways, Dumbledore Bashing, Dursley Bashing, F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, M/M, Multiverse, Parallel Universes, Samhain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-31
Updated: 2017-03-31
Packaged: 2018-10-13 10:49:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10512234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/startabby/pseuds/startabby
Summary: What happens when covens from two slightly different Harry Potter alternate universes decide to perform the same ritual at the same time in the same place with a direct swap of principle actors?Something surprising, that's what.Featuring a guest appearance from everyone's favourite incarnation of DEATH (or at least mine, anyways).





	1. Setting the Stage

The morning of Halloween (Samhain) began bright and cloudless in the town of Godric’s Hollow near the Welsh border. Like in most small towns, the inhabitants of the Hollow went about their daily business with little attention paid to the outside world.

Near the edge of the village lay the ruins of the Potter cottage, where a terrible gas leak had caused the death of the family’s eldest son and his uncle, who was babysitting on that tragic night the year before. Rumour had it that the grieving parents had moved back to live with the husband’s family, not wanting to stay at the sight of such tragedy.

“Of course,” the neighbours gossiped.  “It doesn’t help that all those odd strangers come to view the ruins.”

The whole neighbourhood had become accustomed to groups of strangers, often dressed in strange, old fashioned clothing, walking up to the front gate of the house, staring at it for varying lengths of time, then continuing on their way.

“It’s downright disgusting, how people treat a tragic accident like that as a curiosity,” whispered the old lady who lived next door to her neighbour on the other side as they both sat in their gardens watching the strangers come by. “They should be ashamed of themselves,” the other agreed.

On this particular morning, however, it was not strangers who approached the house, but the Potters themselves, along with young James’ parents. Recognizing the significance of the date, the neighbours merely waved a hello before leaving the family to their memorial. What none of them noticed was that in the wake of the Potter’s visit all awareness of the back garden behind the cottage faded until none of them could recall its existence.

 

* * *

 

 

“Fidelius in place,” Lily whispered to her husband. “Since we only need it for twenty four hours or so and we’re using it only to avoid attention there shouldn’t be any problems with people searching for the secret keeper like the last time.”

“I’m sure you’re right, Lilyflower,” James responded absently, already focused on the planned transfiguration of their former back yard into a ritual space. Clearing the shrubbery of a neglected garden from a large plot of ground between ten and fifteen meters in diameter, he left a space covered in the rich earth of the region.

A second incantation and the earth in the cleared region and beyond shook as the stones contained therein shifted to cover the ground in a layer of rough gravel. Finally, with a great deal of care for detail, James worked in partnership with his father Charlus to convert the jumble of rock into the needed ritual space. At the base was a half-meter layer of solidly fused rock planed to a smooth, flat surface and covering a cleared semi-circle seven meters in diameter with an additional meter wide rectangle extending from the base of the semi-circle.

Next, a low stone altar was constructed extending upwards from the centre of the rectangle. The altar was a meter in height, a half-meter long and a quarter meter wide, with a polished top precisely parallel to the ground. The base of the altar was fused to the platform on which it stood, giving the appearance of being carved out of a single block of stone. A number of cots, chairs and tables were set up with sticking charms on the semi-circular platform, including a discrete self-contained loo in one corner of the space.

 

* * *

 

 

With the physical ritual space laid out on, the four Potters apparated home to their current residence at Potter Abbey. From there they would head out to spend the rest of the morning and afternoon handling the innumerable obligations of the family of the ‘boy-who-vanquished’ on the anniversary of the Dark Lord’s defeat. Using a combination of fame and guilt, they’d ensured that all such events which they would attend were to take place during the day. They’d told the public that they intended to spend the evening in private mourning for their lost family and asked to be left undisturbed during that time.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Potter coven spent the rest of the day making final preparations for the special Samhain ritual which they would be performing that night. This ritual, uncovered in the depths of the Black library and dating back to ancient times, could only be performed under a very unique series of conditions. If a witch or wizard was killed by dark magic while trying to protect an innocent child on the night of Samhain, their spirit could be summoned the next Samhain by the family of that child to thank them for their sacrifice. The spirit so summoned could remain from when the ritual was performed after sunset until an hour before sunrise and would be able to speak to both the summoning family member and their witnesses.

The ritual called for a summoner and a child (either the innocent protected or a relation) as well as a coven of thirteen witnesses connected to both summoner and spirit. In their attempt, Lily Potter would stand as summoner with her six-month old daughter Rosalyn standing in for her lost son. Her witnesses would be the following: her husband James and his parents Charlus and Dorea, close friends Remus Lupin, Severus Snape and Frank and Alice Longbottom, mentors Alastor Moody, Filius Flitwick and Minerva McGonagall, and friendly representatives of the Black family namely James’ great-uncle Alphard and cousins Regulus and Andromeda.

The details of the planned ritual, including the runic layout, potions, and incantations had been collated by Remus Lupin as researcher par excellence. He spent the afternoon ensuring that each member of the coven had their parts prepared. He also ensured that all materials needed were ready: the ritual athame, the offering to the spirit of bread, wine and salt, the spirit revealing potion.

Potions Master Severus had spent a great deal of time over the past several weeks in his lab brewing permutations of the required potion to ensure that it perfectly matched the one laid out in the ancient record. He and his bondmate, Runes Apprentice Regulus Black were currently living with Regulus’ Master, his great-uncle Alphard. The two runes specialists had worked with Remus to adapt the runic sequences from the ritual record to meet their specific circumstances. They spent the afternoon carving a long sequence around the base of the ritual platform created by James and Charlus. In addition they placed three runic circles on the surface of the platform: one on the altar where the ritual elements would be placed, one at the centre of the semi-circle where the summoner would stand, and one at the far edge of the platform where the spirit would appear.

Frank and Alastor stopped by briefly while on a break from their Auror responsibilities to place protective wards around the ritual space. These extended beyond the primary defences of the Fidelius to further ensure that the coven would not be disturbed during the ritual. With all of the protections in place, even a team of Aurors would take several hours to penetrate the enclosed space.  

Alice and Andromeda worked together to make sure that the space was well stocked with anything that they could possibly need during the roughly ten hour duration of the ritual. This included ritual robes, provisions, blankets and bedding for comfort, a collection of lanterns with spare candles, plenty of parchment, ink and quills. Those who had children not participating in the ritual made arrangements: Neville stayed with his grandmother Augusta and Nymphadora was off at Hogwarts.

Finally, the time had come to begin the ritual. The participants arrived singly or in groups until fourteen adults and one child were present. Everyone took their places on the slab and Alphard placed the final Rune in the perimeter sequence. As this was done a soft but deep ‘bong’ of a bell was heard and a nearly invisible dome formed around the ritual space, closing them inside.

 

* * *

 

DEATH watched the Potter coven preparing their ritual with interest. It had been centuries since circumstances had lined up for this ritual to be performed.

He glanced over at a nearby universe where a coven having a different make-up gathered to perform the same ritual in the same space at the same time.

“THIS WILL BE INTERESTING,” DEATH commented. He looked at the spirits of Sirius Black and Lily Potter who stood at his side.

“I’M AFRAID THAT YOUR PRESENCE MAY NOT BE NEEDED. WE SHALL HAVE TO WATCH AND SEE.”

 

* * *

 

 

As the last light of sunset faded from the horizon, two covens gathered to begin the ritual. **Lily** _(Sirius)_ took position in the circle laid out before the altar and spoke first.

**_“We gather on this night to honour the sacrifice of one who gave their life in the defence of innocence.”_ **

**“I, Lily Evans Potter, seek to call forth the spirit of my bondmate’s brother who gave his life protecting my lost son Harold James Potter.”**

_“I, Sirius Orion Black, seek to call forth the spirit of the mother who gave her life protecting her son and my godson and adopted child Harold James Potter-Black.”_

Next, the witnesses stepped forward, each using the athame to add a single drop of their blood to the prepared potion and spoke their words:

**“I, James, Heir of House Potter, stand witness as bondmate to Lily and father to Harold.”**

_“I, Walburga, Matriarch of House Black, stand witness as mother to Sirius and grandmother to Harold.”_

**“I, Dorea, Matriarch of House Potter, stand witness as mother to James Potter.”**

_“I, Andromeda, Daughter of House Black, stand witness as cousin to Sirius and Harold.”_

**“I, Charlus, Lord of House Potter, stand witness as father to James Potter.”**

_“I, Theodore, son of House Black, stand witness as bondmate to Andromeda Black Tonks.”_

**“I, Remus, Alpha of the Lupin Pack, stand witness as Alpha to Lily and Harold.”**

_“I, Arcturus, Lord of House Black, stand witness as grandfather to Sirius.”_

**“I, Alice, Daughter of House Dearborn, stand witness as friend to Lily and godmother to Harold.”**

_“I, Cassiopeia, Daughter of House Black, stand witness as sister to Arcturus Black.”_

**“I, Severus, Son of House Prince, stand witness as friend to Lily.”**

_“I, Narcissa, Daughter of House Black, stand witness as cousin to Sirius and Harold.”_

**“I, Regulus, Lord of House Black, stand witness as bondmate to Severus Snape and cousin to James Potter.”**

_“I, Melania, Daughter of House MacMillan, stand witness as bondmate to Arcturus Black.”_

**“I, Franciscus, Lord of House Longbottom, stand witness as bondmate to Alice Longbottom.”**

_“I, Lucretia, Daughter of House Black, stand witness as sister to Walburga Black.”_

**“I, Filius, Son of Clan Flitwick, stand witness as mentor and Master to Lily.”**

_“I, Cedrella, Daughter of House Black, stand witness as cousin to Sirius and Harold.”_

**“I, Minerva, Matriarch of Clan McGonagall, stand witness as mentor to Lily.”**

_“I, Callidora, Daughter of House Black, stand witness as cousin to Sirius and Harold.”_

**“I, Andromeda, Daughter of House Black, stand witness as cousin to James Potter.”**

_“I, Cygnus, Son of House Black, stand witness as brother to Walburga Black.”_

**“I, Alastor, Patriarch of Clan Moody, stand witness as mentor to James Potter.”**

_“I, Lucius, Lord of House Malfoy, stand witness as bondmate to Narcissa Black Malfoy.”_

**“I, Alphard, Son of House Black, stand witness as uncle to Dorea Black Potter.”**

_“I, Severus, Son of House Prince, stand witness as rival to Sirius and guardian to Harold.”_

As each witness finished their statement, another ‘bong’ echoed through the space, the volume which increased with each witness added.

Next, **Lily** _(Sirius)_ claimed **Rosalyn** _(Harry)_ and carefully added a single drop of blood from the child before handing them back to their minders.

**“I bring Rosalyn, Daughter of House Potter and sister to the lost child Harold, to stand as innocent witness.”**

_“I bring Harold, Heir of House Potter and Son of House Black, to stand as innocent witness.”_

Finally, **Lily** _(Sirius)_ added a drop of their blood to the potion before setting aside the athame, dipping a thumb into the potion and placing a drop of it onto the centre of their forehead, along with the foreheads of all the witnesses.

**_“We call forth the spirit of_** **Sirius Andrew Potter** _(Lily Anne Evans Potter)_ **_to cross the boundary between life and death and commune with us on this hallowed night. So we beseech thee Lord DEATH, grant our humble request. So mote it be.”_**

And all the rest of the coven echoed **_“so mote it be.”_**

One final ringing ‘bong’ echoed through the ritual space, this time accompanied by a bright flash of light.

“AND HERE WE GO,” DEATH commented as the waiting spirits faded away.


	2. Compare and Contrast

When the two covens recovered from the cacophony of light and sound, the view before them had changed. Instead of the altar and expected spirit an arched doorway had appeared before them. Its span covered the entire fourteen meters of the platform and stood over three meters at its apex. On the other side of the doorway they could see a large group of people standing in the same sort of ritual platform as themselves.

Everyone murmured in shock but before anyone could move Walburga’s voice rung out. “Nobody try to cross the doorway. We don’t want to end the ritual before we’ve begun.”

“Wally! Is that you?” Dorea asked her younger sister, squinting through the doorway. “What are you doing in the spirit realm? As far as I know you should be still at Grimmauld Place.”

“What are you talking about Dory,” her sister interrupted. “You’re the one who’s dead.”

This opened up the floodgates as people began to yell back and forth, while those who appeared on both sides, like Severus, were too busy staring at their deceased fellows to notice their duplicates.

Finally the clamour was interrupted by the children; Harry crying “Paddy what’s going on?” while Rosie just screamed until her mother started rocking her. This was enough to get things back on track.

“Alright then,” Arcturus declared with a huff. “If everyone is done yelling, it appears that instead of the other side we have somehow reached another timeline where things occurred differently leading to a different set of people performing an identical ritual calling different spirits.”

“Now, it appears that my grandson and granddaughter are the focus of this ritual so how about we allow them to lead as it appears both sides have prepared.”

“Right,” Lily jumped in, unable to resist. “It appears that the cause of both rituals was an attack at our home in Godric’s Hollow. I assume that yours was also by Lord Voldemort?”

Everyone nodded.

“Well, given that I’m here and you’re there I’m guessing that in your universe you weren’t babysitting that night?” Lily asked Sirius and he shook his head numbly.

“Then in your universe I’m,” she choked back a sob. “I’m dead and James too, but somehow my baby survived.”

Before she could say anything else, Harry patted Sirius’ face and asked innocently. “Paddy, who dat?”

“Oh pup, that’s your mummy, don’t you remember? We just did some special magic so we can talk to her.”

“Okay,” with that Harry leaned his head against Sirius’ chest and put his thumb in his mouth. At the sight, all the women (and some of the men) on Lily’s side of the circle awwwed. “We sit down now?” he asked.

Everyone chuckled, but most took a seat, gathering close enough to the doorway to hear easily.

“Let’s start with the details of what happened that night,” Remus suggested.

“I guess I’ll start then,” Lily agreed from her seat beside her bondmate.

“Samhain 1981; we’d been living under the Fidelius at the cottage for almost a year by then,” she began, looking at James for confirmation. “Peter was our secret keeper, although that wasn’t common knowledge, and he was living in hiding in Muggle London with his mother.”

“Somehow word got to the Dark Lord of his role, and unknown to us he had been captured a day or two before. Peter had never been the strongest or bravest, and all too soon he broke under extensive torture, revealing the secret before being tortured to insanity via the Cruciatus. He was left alive in Voldemort’s dungeon to hide the fact that the charm had been broken.” 

“One of my best friends from Hogwarts, Marlene McKinnon, had died in a recent Death Eater attack, and James and Sirius convinced me that it would be good for the two of us to attend her memorial that night. Always up for babysitting duty, Sirius had volunteered to take care of his godson and nephew while we were gone.”

“From what we’ve been able to piece together after the fact, that evening Voldemort gathered up a few of his most loyal followers, including Rudolphus and Bellatrix Lestrange, into a ‘hunting party.’ The secret was revealed, and everyone headed for the cottage.”

“It was late enough at that point that Harry was already in his cot and Sirius was alone downstairs when the intent wards inside the Fidelius were triggered. Despite being hugely outnumbered and hampered by anti-apparition wards, Sirius fought viciously, taking down both his cousin and her husband and even winging the Dark Lord before he was finally killed by a combination of ‘Avada Kedavra’ curses from multiple directions.”

“The last thing Sirius did before he fell was to trigger the alert ward, sending a warning to James and me. We grabbed everyone we could and returned to the cottage, but were delayed by the anti-apparition ward that was still up.”

“We got inside just in time to watch Voldemort fall dead in the doorway of Harry’s nursery. Somehow when he cast the Killing Curse, it partially rebounded to hit both victim and caster. Witnessing the fall of their master, the remaining Death Eaters grabbed their emergency portkeys and were gone before we could take them out. They left behind five bodies; Bella, Rudo, and Siri downstairs and Harry and Voldemort upstairs.”

“Since then we’ve spent the past year mourning and cleaning house. James is part of Alastor’s task force, which is working to track down the remaining Death Eaters and put them up for trial. Sev and Reg here had been undercover with the Death Eaters for several years. In that time they had compiled a huge collection of evidence that has been of huge help to the DMLE in prosecuting those that Alastor’s task force apprehended.”

“Unfortunately, when the Unspeakables examined Voldemort’s corpse they found evidence that he had used dark Magics to keep his soul from following his body into death. Several of us are part of the team doing research to determine what he has done and how we can destroy his lingering soul and make sure that Voldemort never returns to threaten anyone in the future.”

“During our research,” Remus jumped in. “We ran across the summoning ritual we used tonight in one of books that Regulus had borrowed from the Black library. It seemed an amazing opportunity to say thanks and goodbye to the man we all cared about. We also were hoping that Sirius might have some insight into how the killing curse was reflected and killed Voldemort as well as Harry.” 

 “Well,” Sirius said with a wry grin. “I can’t help you on the ‘night of’ stuff, although it does sound like our Harry got the full version of what took down Voldemort. “

“On the dark magic side, I’m assuming your research has already pointed you towards Horcruxes?”

A few of the group appeared confused, but those in the know nodded and explained to their neighbours as needed. “We’ve tracked down several of those nasty things here, but we’re pretty sure there are more still plus we’re kind of stuck on the actual destroying bit.”

“Several?” Regulus shuddered as he whispered while listening to his brother’s double. “I thought the locket Kreacher helped me get was bad enough.” Severus leaned over and put his arm around his bondmate, trying not to get lost in the memory of the awful cave where they had retrieved the locket Horcrux.

Both Walburga and the other Severus watched this interchange with bittersweet regret, knowing that this must have been when their Regulus lost his life. “We’ve got the locket too,” Sirius commented, looking at his brother’s twin. He’d never gotten the chance to reconcile with his Regulus.

“Lucius was also given a diary-shaped one,” Sirius nodded at his cousin-in-law. “He saw Bella get a cup at the same time that we’re pretty sure is one as well.”

“We’ve got another one here that you probably won’t have to deal with,” Sirius continued, looking down at his godson dozing in his arms and brushing his hair away from the still red, jagged scar. Lily and James watching this felt a pang of bittersweet regret at this sight.

“I guess it’s my turn, then?” he continued, looking up at the group across the way.

“Well, one major difference,” Sirius growled. “Our Peter wasn’t so much tortured as a spy for Voldemort. This meant that the monster had plenty of time to plan his attack on the cottage.”

“He waited until the two of you had your guard down, and then attacked in a blitzkrieg. As far as I could tell when I got there, it looked like you didn’t have time to arm yourselves when Voldemort blasted in. Jamie was found downstairs, apparently killed first; then Lily was found lying between the door to Harry’s nursery and the cot.” Sirius continued as tears began to run down his face. “Both of you were marked with just the killing curse. I was the first one on the scene. I caught the Fidelius falling with your deaths because I happened to be talking about you with a stranger at a bar and was suddenly able to include things that were part of the secret.”

“From what I could tell it looked like somehow when Voldemort tried to make it a hat-trick the curse reflected off Harry and rebounded to hit the Dark Wanker instead. Old Voldie’s body was nothing but a pile of dusty robes, while Harry was sitting his cot crying hysterically. I lifted little Harrikins here and carried him downstairs, where I was met by old Hagrid at the door.”

“I could still smell Peter, the rat bastard, on the grounds. He had apparently come with his Master, but ran away before I arrived. Hagrid promised to take this precious one up to Hogwarts to have good old Pomfrey check him out. I agreed, focused on the hunt like the idiot I can be sometimes.” Several of his listeners snorted in agreement.

“Unfortunately,” Sirius went on with a wry smile. “In my grief and arrogance I made a rookie mistake. I neglected to get back-up.” He looked at his mentor, then at his old partner. “Instead I went racing after Peter, thinking that there was no way he could get away since I was so close behind him. I forgot the first lesson of being a successful Auror.” Frank, James and Alastor echoed along with him. “Constant Vigilance.”

“After a long chase I finally managed to corner the rat in the middle of Muggle London. He’d stopped in the middle of a crowded street and turned and faced me with his wand behind his back. I pointed mine at him in accordance with protocol, but before I could say anything, he started screaming at me. Saying things like ‘how could you’, and ‘you betrayed James and Lily’. I was so confused that I allowed my attention to drift and before I knew it he’d cast a large area blasting curse in the middle of a crowded street in downtown London. I hit my head as I went down, and as I lay there in in shock with my ears ringing I saw him transform and disappear down a drain pipe, leaving behind a severed finger.”

At the looks of confusion he saw on some of his audience’s faces, Sirius explained. “Peter is an unregistered Animagus. His form is a common brown rat.”

“Anyways, before I could do anything else I saw a number of Aurors apparating on-site. Instead of asking me what had happened, they started shooting stunners at me. Figuring better safe than sorry, I managed to apparate away and found a place to hide and nurse my wounds. It turned out to be a good idea, because when I went to scout things out the next morning I discovered that I’d been declared the betrayer of the Potters and Voldemort’s right hand man.”

Sirius smirked at the gasps of disbelief from his friends. “Apparently our misdirection game with the secret keeper worked a little too well, as everyone believed that I was the betrayer who led Voldemort to the house. This wasn’t helped by witness reports from the Muggle survivors of Pete’s blasting curse. They repeated his words, and the discovery of his finger among the remains convinced the public that I had murdered another friend as well.”

“So, here I was a fugitive and scapegoat. What was I to do?” Sirius grinned at Remus and James, sitting side by side.

“Where’s the one place that no one who knew me would ever expect me to go?”

It didn’t take long for realization to dawn on multiple faces. Suddenly Regulus started laughing. “You went home,” he pointed at his mother across the way. “That’s why Mother is here. No one would ever expect you to go there given your very public disownment.”

“How on earth did you convince the Matriarch who kicked you out for sorting Gryffindor all those years ago to take you back?”

At this everyone on Sirius’ side of the circle looked confused. “Wait,” Narcissa interrupted. “I thought you weren’t disowned until after Uncle Orion died?”

“Yes, wasn’t it after that disastrous Yule when you had that huge row with Bella dearest and swore that you’d go live as a Muggle before you’d join the Dark Lord,” Lucius agreed with a wry grin. “It was after Aunt Walburga didn’t stop her from using a touch of the Cruciatus on you to try and convince you to agree.”

On the other side of the doorway, Remus and Dorea looked aghast while James and Charlus just looked furious. “She did WHAT to my son?” Charlus growled.

“Clearly we have another point of deviation,” Cassiopeia interrupted, even as she glared at her niece. She hadn’t attended that particular event, so this was the first time she’d heard about it.

As a somewhat neutral party, Andromeda explained. “In our world, Sirius lived at home until his 6th year at Hogwarts, when he ran off during the Winter break to Potter Abbey to stay with his Aunt and Uncle. They managed to convince Lord Black that they should be allowed to foster him given the now legendary fights between mother and son. At least that’s the story that I heard when Sirius came to visit Ted and me afterwards. I take it something different happened over there?”

“Yes,” said Dorea grimly. “It sounds like my brother-in-law died earlier over here and our Walburga had her father-in-law’s ear. When our Sirius sorted Gryffindor with James and refused to be resorted he was formally disowned from the Black family and Regulus was installed as Heir Black in his stead. Charlus and I took him in, even to the point of a formal blood adoption, naming him our second son and Heir Potter after his now brother James. I don’t think he set foot in Grimmauld at any point after that.”

“Wow,” Andromeda and Narcissa said as one and their older relatives agreed.

“Father Arcturus would never let me convince him to make such a rash decision,” Walburga commented, as her aunts and cousins nodded. “The Cruciatus incident was in the heat of the moment and I deeply regretted it afterwards and swore that no matter what I’d never let my temper go to that extreme. My Reggie wouldn’t talk to me for the rest of the break after that happened.”

“Getting back to the story,” Sirius said after a moment. “Mother took pity on me.” He was interrupted by several people snorting. “Correction, Mother and I negotiated an agreement. She would allow me to hide at Grimmauld with help from her and Kreacher, and in exchange I would help her with her project, namely the need for a new Heir Black.”

He looked over at Regulus sadly. “You see, my little brother lost his life stealing Voldemort’s Horcrux back in ’79. He decided to follow my bad example and behaved like a brash Gryffindor, sacrificing himself to make sure that Kreacher could escape with their target. We only found this out a few months ago, when we started researching Horcruxes and Kreacher confessed his failure to live up to his beloved Master’s last wishes and destroy the locket.” Melania reached over and gave her daughter-in-law a brief hug as the other Reggie was squashed between his Aunt Dorea and his bondmate.

Shaking his head, Sirius returned to the story. “Now Mother couldn’t very well have her now fugitive, disowned son stand as Arcturus’ heir, but there were no other male Blacks left to carry on the family name unless…”

This time James started chuckling. “She didn’t.”

Sirius smiled. “She did. Mother told me that if I wanted to hide out under her roof I would be bonding a girl of her choice and producing a new Heir Black.”

“And did you?” Dorea asked.

Sirius nodded. “My roughly two month old son Procyon Regulus Black is back at Grimmauld Place with both his mother and Kreacher looking after him tonight. Mother found young Evangeline in France, a recent graduate of Beauxbatons with the appropriate credentials and promised her a comfortable life in exchange for bearing at least one son for House Black. She has her own wing of the house and keeps to herself most of the time and has no interest in participating in British Wizarding culture. In fact, I’m not sure that she even speaks any English as I’ve had to dig out my rusty French every time we encounter one another, which isn’t often.”

Walburga nodded. “She’s a lovely girl, but not at all ambitious, and is quite the homebody. Apparently some of the other girls at school were quite nasty to her, leaving her traumatized and not inclined to venture out into the world. I’m hoping her quiet nature will balance young Siri’s brashness in their children.”

Everyone smiled at that.

“So,” James interrupted. “Where was my son during all of these shenanigans?”

At that Sirius looked down at the now fast asleep Harry as the rest of his family growled in anger. “That’s the other not so fun part of our story.”

“Dumbledore,” Arcturus Black practically snarled, and Cygnus, Lucius and even surprisingly Ted nodded in agreement.

“I’m not sure if this is another one of those places where our universes differ,” Sirius finally said as he looked up from the child in his arms. “Although the fact that he’s not in your circle does make me wonder.”

“If you remember, the last time I mentioned my godson here was when I handed him off to Hagrid before I ran off to chase the rat.” There were several noises of agreement.

“Well, I assumed that when Hagrid took him up to Hogwarts the Headmaster would arrange for him to get a full check-up, then follow the guardianship agreement that my James and Lily had outlined in their wills. I knew that I was on the list of potential guardians, but I figured with everything going on that the Headmaster would place him with one of the more suitable options like his godmother and her husband there.” Sirius smiled at the couple seated across the way. “Your Neville is alright, right?” He sighed in relief when they nodded.

“Mother’s with him tonight,” Frank explained.

“I had more pressing concerns, especially as I wasn’t having any luck clearing my name while in hiding. Remus wouldn’t return any of my letters and Dumbledore himself had publically stated that James and Lily had told him that I was their secret keeper. It was only around Yule that I started to realize that something was wrong.”

“I don’t know about you, but my James and Lily did a proper wiccaning with Harry, having Alice and I swear as godparents while Remus and Frank stood as witnesses. I remember the two ladies were comparing notes about whose labour was worse while James and Frank tried not to turn green.” Sirius chuckled for a moment. “Right, well as Harry’s magical godparent I got the usual notifications, you know, a sense of his state of wellbeing and a poke if he was experiencing trauma.”

“Initially I figured that the sadness I was feeling was the natural aftermath of what he’d seen that night and being placed in a new home. However, even after over a month things weren’t getting better, but rather were getting worse, to the point where I was feeling twinges of pain. That’s when I started looking into things and red flags started going up.”

“First, I found out that contrary to my expectations the Potter wills were sealed rather than read, as requested by Dumbledore. The excuse was that I was bound to be one of the beneficiaries and since I was currently assumed to be the cause of their deaths it was necessary to keep me from claiming something that I didn’t deserve. Now, I understood the logic, but I was upset that this action prevented some of the other bequests that I knew James and Lily had arranged from being kept.  But hey, I figured, there has to be a statute of limitations there, so it can wait.”

“Second, I started wondering, well if they’re not going by the wills, where is Harry? So I started digging through Mother’s Wizengamut records for any word on Harry’s new guardians. Was he with Frank and Alice? Unfortunately it turned out that while I was trying to find Peter our version of my dear cousin and her husband and in-laws decided to pay the Longbottom Manor a visit. The result was the capture of four Death Eaters, but not before they hit both Frank and Alice with enough repetitions of the Cruciatus to leave them in the Long Term Spell Damage Ward at St. Mungos and Neville alone with his Gran.” Now it was Frank and Alice’s turn to shudder and huddle close together.

Sirius’ face looked bleak. “So my first assumption was clearly mistaken. I started working my way through my list of potential guardians and had no luck. Finally I found a brief throw-away comment of Dumbledore’s stating that Harry was staying with family. Of course, I assumed that meant Wizarding family, so I started digging through the Potter family tree in greater depth. No luck there. At that point it was well into February, and I’d started getting more triggers on my godparent link.”

“I’d exhausted my list of Wizarding relations when it hit me; Dumbledore never said that he placed Harry with Wizards.” Sirius could see the dread on Lily’s face when he said this. ‘Damn it, she knows where this is going,’ he thought. “Well, I didn’t know where to start in finding people in the Muggle world and Mother certainly wasn’t going to help. Trying to think, I went on a run in Muggle London;” Sirius winked at James and Remus, alluding to his Animagus form and trying to break the gloomy mood.

“I wasn’t expecting it to help, but I had Merlin’s good luck and ran across a sign for a Muggle private investigator, which it turned out was someone I could hire to track down people in that world. I gave him all the information I had and set him loose, visiting once a week for an update. At first it was slow going, all the information I had were names and the few things I remembered: Lily having one older sister named Petunia, her parents being recently deceased, her birthday.”

“Finally, after a couple of false alarms the investigation led to a Muggle neighbourhood in Surrey in a town called Little Whinging. By now it was April and my twinges were occurring daily if not more often. Now, the investigator was able to catch a glimpse of Lily’s sister Petunia and her husband and son easily using a Muggle camera, but it took him a while to determine that there was in fact a second child living at the house. Eventually he was able to confirm Harry’s presence, but the difference from the happy child I remembered was night and day.”

“This Harry looked barely bigger than the one I remembered, despite being a good six months older. He was pale, with dark bags under his eyes and was dressed in clothing that was far too large for him. The inspector told me that Harry moved slowly, like an old man, and he was rarely seen outside or even through the house windows.”

“Despite his professional demeanour it was clear that the inspector was steaming mad, but I assured him that I would be taking care of things. ‘If you don’t’ he told me, ‘I’ll be calling child services.’ Apparently the Muggles have a whole department in their ministry just for dealing with families who don’t treat their children properly. I reassured him, paid him, Obliviated him, and sent him on his way.”

“Since I had a location, I could now send Kreacher in to determine the security around my godson. Maybe there was a reason for him to be there? I couldn’t come up with anything good, but I figured that I’d check just in case. I was stunned at the inadequacy of the protection present. Besides a dark magic ward that was tuned to Voldemort’s magic and had Lily’s signature, the only things Kreacher could find were a blocking ward to prevent the use of locating spells and a detection ward that triggered any time a witch or wizard crossed the boundaries of the ward (aka the property line). Both wards were powered by Lily’s blood based protections and the detection ward was linked to something that was located in the direction of Hogwarts.”

“Since there were no wards against house-elf magic, I was able to send Kreacher in for reconnaissance. In only a few hours, he reported back with a level of disgust that exceeded even his hatred for me and overcame his habitual dislike of anyone not of pure-blood.” Lily sobbed and rocked her sleeping infant in order to stop herself from reaching for her son’s double, while Remus and Regulus had their hands full keeping their companions from doing the same. Dorea glanced at her younger sister and grinned at the toothy smile she got in response. She knew that despite their differences of opinion she would never let Muggles treat her grand-nephew poorly and get away with it.

Sirius took a deep breath and went on. “I’m not going to tell you the details of their behaviour, but suffice it to say that I’ll be spending a long time fixing the damage done to my darling boy.”

“Once Kreacher and I figured out both Harry’s condition and the lacklustre protection, we were in agreement. We would be getting him out of there as soon as possible. When I passed along what information I had, Mother very quickly agreed. We had Merlin’s own luck that night too, as Petunia and her family left only a few hours after we’d arrived to go out to dinner and left Harry behind. Carefully steering clear of the ward boundaries to avoid setting off Dumbledore’s alarm, I cast a simple notice-me-not over the property. Then Kreacher went in and revealed himself to Harry convincing him to come to the door. My little pup was so scared; he wouldn’t budge beyond the door frame and clung to it when Kreacher tried to move him. I needed him to cross the ward line willingly in order to avoid triggering the wards. ‘What to do?’ I thought.”

“Suddenly I had an idea,”

Remus groaned. “We know what that means.”

“Don’t worry, this was a good idea. I was hoping that Harry still remembered me from before, but clearly my current shape wasn’t enough. Maybe I’d have better luck in another form, I thought. Without a word, I allowed myself to shift into Padfoot. Thankfully this was enough to trigger my Harrikins’ old memories. ‘Paddy,’ he whispered and ran to me. By the time he reached me I was back to basics and swept him up in my arms in a hug.”

“You know, I think that was the first moment of true happiness that I had felt since that horrible Samhain night. I had Kreacher leave an anonymous note for Petunia telling her that I was taking her nephew away in the hopes of staving off Dumbledore’s discovery of my rescue of my pup, and then the three of us returned to Grimmauld.”

Everyone cheered.

“On our arrival, Mother was a gracious host and welcomed young Harry into the family with open arms that went beyond my wildest expectations.”

Walburga sniffed at her son, and replied. “As if I’d hurt such a darling little boy, despite the disadvantage of having you for a godfather.”

“Naturally, the first thing we did once Harry was settled in was to get his health checked. Mother arranged for a discrete healer to make a house call. Most of the physical damage done by his stay at the Dursleys,” Sirius growled the name, “has since been corrected.  We’re still working through the nightmares and Harry struggles when meeting new people, but otherwise it seems that he wasn’t there long enough to have permanent damage.”

Sirius looked around at the group, “And here is where our story links back up to Voldemort and your own challenges.”

“Beyond the physical damage, the healer discovered one particularly nasty form of damage on Harry centred here,” Sirius lifted Harry’s fringe to show the inflamed cut on his forehead, “on his scar.”

“Harry has a tumour underneath the scar that radiates dark magic like nothing I’ve ever seen,” Sirius went on to say. “Or so we thought at first. The healer tried every basic magical treatment in her repertoire, but nothing made a dent or gave any information about the magic we found. Finally I called in Kreacher to see if house-elf magic could provide any insight that wizarding magic was missing. It turned out, it could. The magic in the scar matched something that Kreacher had seen before, even something that he’d seen recently.”

Sirius looked around the space. “Can anyone guess what that was? Any takers?” No one wanted to say. Finally, Sirius sighed and nodded. “Some of you clearly guessed it, but since no one seems to want to say it, I will. The tumour was a Horcrux.”

Despite nearly everyone having figured out the puzzle, there were still several gasps. It was not easy news to hear. “And what was worse,” he went on. “What was worse was that nothing had been done to shield my godson from its influence.” Sirius looked like he wanted to punch something, but couldn’t move thanks to a lap full of Harry. He pulled a glass of water out of a nearby basket and took a sip, clearing his throat.

“The Healer helped me apply a set of shields to prevent the tumour itself from physically growing and potentially doing further damage to Harry’s body as well as supplemented the protection with Lily’s magical signature that was helping shield Harry’s mind from the worst of the dark magic. So far that’s all we’ve been able to do, prevent further damage.”

“Like you we’ve spent the months since that awful May evening researching Voldemort and his dark and dreadful Magics, as well as Dumbledore’s troubling actions. During that time we ran across this ritual. We were hoping to get more details about Lily’s protection spell that I believe was how Harrikins here was able to reflect the killing curse.”

“Mother’s been focusing on Voldemort’s history - did you know that he was originally a half-blood son of a muggle who grew up in an orphanage? - In order to figure out where the rest of his Horcruxes might be and what they might be imbedded into. I’ve focused on the triple problem of Horcruxes: their form, strengths and weaknesses and how to move, remove, or destroy them. Since last November, Mother’s also been very determined to re-establish the Black family back on top of the hierarchy of British pureblood nobility despite their recent setbacks, which is how I ended up with most of these bozos,” Sirius pointed his thumb behind him as a group. “We’ve reminded ourselves that the Black motto of ‘Toujours Pur’ is not compatible with the ideals of Voldemort and his tribe of lackeys, especially once we identified his original identity as a Muggle-raised half-blood.”

“And what about Dumbledore and the rest of the community? Has there been any progress on your status or Harry’s since May?” Charlus asked, concerned for his son and grandson’s doppelgangers.

“Well, Harry’s status is either thankfully or disturbingly unchanged.  I had Kreacher place a simple notification ward over the Dursleys' neighbourhood after we left to watch for magical activity. So far the only thing that’s been detected is an active Floo in the home of one neighbour, Mrs. Figg, who’s a squib spy for Dumbledore. Given the Dursleys’ habit of keeping Harry sequestered, she’s apparently not noticed his absence.”

“Additionally, you may have noticed Severus among our number. In our world, although it’s not generally known, he became a double agent against the Dark Lord under Dumbledore’s command after the Potters were named as particular targets.”

Charlus nodded, “Over here both your brother Regulus and Severus were double agents for many years, although they worked for the ministry under my supervision. Your double was actually their point of contact until his death. They’ve been key witnesses for many of our Death Eater trials and have both received Orders of Merlin, second class, for their work.”

“Right. Well, here Severus’ work has been kept secret by Dumbledore, only revealed to those needed to keep him out of Azkaban after Voldie was vanquished. Over the summer Mother’s recruitment efforts extended to cousin Narcissa and her husband Lucius, who served under Voldemort due to family pressure, not true desire. They suggested Severus’ inclusion, since he’s their son Draco’s godfather and as far as they knew at the time he shared their position on Voldemort. Once he’d been inducted into the group and learned about Harry, he revealed his arrangement with Dumbledore, which included a willing oath to protect Harry as Lily’s son and a forced position as Hogwarts Potions Professor and continued spy for the man.”

“As recently as earlier this month, he asked Dumbledore about Harry’s status and was told that he was ‘safe with his relatives’,” Sirius scoffed. Everyone laughed.

“Yeah, that was my response. For me, there’s been good news and bad news. The good news is that as far as the DMLE knows there has been no sign of me anywhere in Britain since last November. The bad news is that still no one is willing to hear my side of the story and everyone except the group here and our small cadre of allies believes me to have been Voldemort’s right hand man. About six months ago, the Wizengamut held a trial in absentia and sentenced me to life in Azkaban if I’m ever caught. I’ve sent numerous letters apparently from overseas to all my old friends including,” here Sirius paused for a moment and looked across at his friends’ doubles. “Including my Remus, but no one has been willing to hear me out.”

Remus mouthed sorry, but Sirius shook his head. “It’s not your fault, Moony.”

“It’s hard, but I’ve kept busy with our work and Harry here and to a lesser degree my son Procyon, although at two months he’s too young to interact much with us yet. Grandfather and grandmother have been kind enough to let us visit at Castle Black when we need to get some outside time in a space larger than the back yard at Grimmauld.”


	3. Changing Fate and Crossing Over

As the highlights had been given on both sides of the gateway and they’d already used up a significant fraction of their time, everyone agreed that they could make a more productive use of their time by splitting into smaller groups to discuss various topics.

About an hour before the end of the ritual, the gateway flashed unexpectedly, disrupting a number of discussions.

When everyone’s vision cleared, they found themselves confronted by a figure in the centre of the gateway. At first glance, it appeared to be a Dementor, but the lack of the accompanying emotions and cold were absent. Plus its cloak was composed of much sturdier fabric than that of a Dementor and it bore a sturdy scythe in one skeletal hand. Each viewer saw the figure as if it was facing them, regardless of where they stood relative to the other coven members.

“GREETINGS ALL. I AM THE ONE WHO WAS CALLED TO COMPLETE YOUR RITUAL.”

“Um, who are you, sir?” Remus asked hesitantly.

“I AM MANY THINGS, BUT YOU MAY CALL ME DEATH.”

Everyone’s breath let out in whoosh. What in Merlin’s name did this mean?

The being, DEATH, continued. “IN ALL THE MULTIVERSE YOU HAVE MANAGED TO BE THE FIRST TO PERFORM RITUALS WHICH MATCH IN OPPOSITION IN SUCH A PRECISE MANNER. SO YOU ARE TO BE GRANTED A UNIQUE BOON.”

“YOUR TWO UNIVERSES HAVE BEEN LINKED FOR THE DURATION OF THE RITUAL. WHEN IT ENDS, THE TWO UNIVERSES WILL LIKELY NEVER AGAIN CONNECT. HOWEVER, ANY OF YOU WHOSE COUNTERPART IN THE OTHER UNIVERSE HAS ALREADY PASSED INTO MY REALM ARE GRANTED A CHOICE. YOU MAY EITHER REMAIN IN THE UNIVERSE OF YOUR BIRTH, OR YOU MAY CHOOSE TO CROSS PERMANENTLY INTO THE OTHER UNIVERSE.”

“YOU MUST CHOOSE CAREFULLY, AS ONCE THE DECISION IS MADE IT CANNOT BE UNDONE. ALSO KNOW THAT ONLY WHOLE SOULS MAY CROSS BETWEEN UNIVERSES.”

“IF WHEN THE TIME COMES YOU CHOOSE TO SWITCH, WAIT FOR THE GATEWAY TO FLASH. WHEN IT FLASHES YOU HAVE TEN SECONDS TO PLACE ONE OF YOUR PALMS AGAINST THE SURFACE OF THE GATEWAY. THEN THE GATEWAY WILL FLASH AGAIN BEFORE VANISHING, TAKING EACH SOUL TO THEIR NEW PERMANENT HOME.”

With that, the being disappeared, leaving chaos in its wake. Once again, several people began talking over each other, prompting Ted to let out a piercing whistle.

“Thank you, son,” began Arcturus. “Setting aside the impossibility of the offer which we’ve just been granted, let’s start by determining who is even eligible.”

“The obvious candidates are the various victims of Samhain night: James, Lily, Sirius, Harry and even Rosalyn. Beyond that we have the other victims of the Dark Lord and his followers: Charlus and Dorea, as well as Regulus. Finally, some of us old folks have already crossed over in one universe: Cassie, Alphie, Callie and I.”

“Now I’m pretty sure that those of us with living bondmates aren’t interested in crossing over. This takes Regulus and me both out of the running.”

Callidora spoke up next. “I’ve already promised my grandchildren that I’d keep watch over their son’s double, so you can cross me off the list as well.”

“The same goes for me,” Alphard added. “I have a great-nephew to mentor in being Lord Black, as well as finishing his apprenticeship.”

Cassiopeia continued as the last of the oldest generation. “I’m tempted to agree; at the very least I can oust the crazy Walburga from being Matriarch Black with Alphie and young Reggie’s help if I cross over. I have no significant obligations tying me to this universe. Also, did you catch the hint that DEATH gave about entire souls?”

Several people nodded. “I’m fairly sure that the hint implied that crossing over would remove the Horcrux from young Harry.”

Sirius winced at the thought of losing his godson after everything, but agreed. “True, plus that would get him away from future manipulations by Dumbledore, the possible return of Voldemort, and that stupid prophecy.

Lily, James and everyone on their side of the gateway nodded in agreement, but several of the Black family coven members looked confused. “What prophecy?” Melania asked.

“That’s not common knowledge?” replied Dorea. When many people shook their heads, she explained. “The whole reason Voldemort went after my grandson was a prophecy given by Sybil Trelawney to Albus and partially overheard by many in early 1980. Only the first part was common knowledge, and Voldemort interpreted it to fit either Harry or young Neville because they were ‘born to those who had thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies.’ Albus shared the entire contents of the prophecy to both families when they were targeted. After Voldemort and Harry died last year, the entire prophecy was made public as everyone believes it has now been fulfilled.”

“That’s more than even I knew,” Sirius admitted. “Over here Dumbledore only told James and Lily that Voldemort was after Harry because of a prophecy.”

His Severus interrupted. “To my shame, I was the one who reported on the prophecy to Voldemort. I only overheard the part Dorea already mentioned. It was his targeting of the Potters that caused me to become a double agent,” he looked at Lily. “Even though your double and I were no longer close, I couldn’t bear the thought of you being targeted. I vowed to protect Harry for your sake after your double’s death.”

Lily smiled at her childhood friend’s double. “I’m sure that she appreciates the thought, wherever she is now. And for what it’s worth, I forgive you.”

“Me too,” James added.

“As avowed guardian, I agree with Sirius that Harry should cross, as long as you both are willing to accept your son’s double,” Severus continued.

“Merlin,” Sirius said, surprised. “I hadn’t even thought about that side of things. Prongs, Lily?”

Through watery eyes Lily smiled at her friends’ doubles. “Though I know he’s not my Harry, I’d still treasure him as if he was my own.” James nodded in agreement, his arm around his wife.

Walburga stepped up from behind her son. “I never thought I’d say this, especially after everything that’s happened this year, but I think you need to go with Harry.”

“Mum!” Sirius looked at her in shock. “Look, all your friends are either dead or have given up on you, you love Harry as if he was your own, and realistically it will be years if ever before you might be exonerated,” Walburga went on.

“True,” Arcturus nodded. “You’ve done your duty to provide House Black with an heir, and I think those of us here would be willing to help make sure your son grows up to be a great Lord Black in my stead.”

Sirius sat down in shock. He hadn’t really considered the idea. He walked over to Andromeda, who was currently holding a sleeping Harry and claimed his son before walking back to the furthest point he could go without leaving the ritual circle.

“Let’s give him a chance to think,” Andromeda said. “Now I’m guessing that none of the Potters want to come over to our side,” she said with a wry grin.

She got four head shakes of varying magnitude in response.

“In that case the question becomes, what happens to House Potter if Harry leaves? He’s the last one on the main branch of the family.”

Charlus thought for a moment. “In terms of closest relatives, it would be one of my sister’s descendants, but I’m not sure if there was a second son further up the line with living descendants if the inheritance is patrilineal over there. The goblins would know best, given their inheritance tests.”

“What is House Potter’s status over there? Over here I don’t think we’re high enough rank to make huge waves if the House is declared dormant.”

“It’s not really that,” Sirius admitted, having returned just as Charlus finished. “It’s Harry’s status over here. The public has really embraced Harry’s identity as the ‘boy-who-lived’. There was a bounty from the ministry paid into the House vault for killing Voldemort plus we’ve heard rumours of people putting bequests into their wills for him, especially older folks whose whole families died in the war.”

“I see,” Charlus commented. “In that case, I’d recommend that you work to get Harry declared deceased then as soon as possible, before too many bequests are honoured. Given the situation I believe personal funds like that would go to either the Ministry or the minor’s guardian, which I believe you mentioned was currently Dumbledore. He has control over anything already awarded to Harry, although he couldn’t touch the Family vault, just the trust vault and personal holdings.”

Surprisingly this time it was Lucius who snarled. “How much you want to bet the old goat is already using as much of those funds as he can get away with to support his personal agenda.”

Arcturus nodded in agreement. “You said he’s already using the Potter proxy that way, so using the funds the same way wouldn’t be a surprise.”

“Have you decided what you want to do?” he asked Sirius.

“I’m sorely tempted, grandfather,” Sirius admitted. “The only thing stopping me is Procyon.”

“Don’t let that hold you back,” Severus protested. “It would likely leave you bitter and tempted to take things out on him. I know that’s what my parents did to me and I’d hate to see that burden inflicted on anyone else.”

Sirius stared at him in shock. He’d never really had the chance to see this side of his old school rival. Since Lucius’ suggestion had gotten him added to the coven they hadn’t spent much time together and they’d been adversaries throughout their time at Hogwarts. However, everything he’d heard and seen of the man over the past few months in general, and tonight especially, led him to one conclusion.

Looking around at his relatives, many of whom he’d never been close to nor even met in some cases before his mother’s instigation of their alliance Sirius nodded decisively. “I’m going to do it. I’m going to cross with Harry.” He hesitated for a moment, looking at his friends and family’s doubles. “That is, if you all will have me.”

“Of course,” the cry came from several voices.

Cassiopeia reached over and hugged her great-nephew. “We’ll be refugee buddies,” she grinned.

“Thank you, my lady,” he responded. Then Sirius turned back to the group on his side.

“I know that we haven’t done a wiccaning for Procyon yet, but after all that has happened I have two requests.”

“Andy, you’ve always been my favourite cousin. Would you be my son’s godmother and help make sure that mother doesn’t keep him from having fun.”

Andromeda smiled, tearing up. “Of course, Siri. I’ll recruit Nymphy; you know she’ll have no problem getting him in trouble.”

“I’ll be sure to bring Draco over as well,” Narcissa assured. “That way he’ll get a playmate that’s at least closer to his own age.”

“Thank you ladies,” Sirius continued. “My second request is a little more unorthodox.” He turned to Severus.

“Snape, I know we’ve never been friends, especially given I was a bit of a git in school.” Severus laughed at that. “But if you’re willing I’d like for you to be my son’s godfather. I know that you’ll make sure that he doesn’t fall into my bad habits, especially if you’re still stuck teaching at the school. Plus, with Harry gone you’ll need a replacement child to guard,” he said with a smile.

Severus thought for a moment. The mutt had been one of the banes of his existence, but if he could agree to guard the son of one of his tormentors, he guessed doing so for another one wouldn’t be so bad.

“If the Lady Walburga is agreeable I would be willing to do so.”

To which the lady indicated agreed. She was not a young woman anymore, so having several young people willing to help would make the burden of caring for a child again easier.

With that, the group once again broke up. This time they split to finish off the last bits of information sharing still needed and for those who were to cross to make final farewells to those they were leaving behind. Both Cassiopeia and Sirius sat down with Lucretia, who was a certified solicitor, and a couple others for witnesses to draft updated wills.

Finally, the light flashed its warning. Sirius collected Harry from his seat in ‘Grandma Wally’s lap and the three travellers placed their palms against the gateway as everyone waved their farewells. Then came the second flash, and Sirius and Lily, as summoners, saw DEATH greet them through the flash as the archway vanished and the altars that originally stood there were restored. Sirius, with Harry in his lap, and Cassiopeia standing beside him found themselves surrounded by those that they had previously only seen through the gateway.

Alphard took Cassiopeia in his arms. “Sister, dearest,” he smiled. “It’s been too long since I could do this.”

Meanwhile, Sirius and Harry were dogpiled by a combination of James, Lily and Remus as a smiling Charlus and Dorea, holding Rosalyn, looked on with wide smiles.

After a moment Sirius looked up at his ‘other’ brother Regulus, who was looking on from Severus’ arms with a melancholy smile. “Get over here, brat, I need a hug from you too.” With that, Sirius and James grabbed his arms and pulled him into the group.

The next while was a whirlwind of greetings as everyone cooed over Harry, teased Sirius about his life as a fugitive, and welcomed Cassiopeia to their universe.

But soon dawn arrived, the start of a new era. An exhausted Sirius and Harry headed over to Potter Abbey with the family and Cassiopeia accompanied her brother and his housemates back their residence at Noir Manor. Everyone agreed to keep the presence of the travellers a secret until they met in three days at the Abbey to decide on a cover.

 With light hearts and full minds the Potter coven disbanded, leaving the little town of Godric’s Hollow unknowing of the momentous events that had occurred that night.

 


	4. Supplemental Information

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Details of the Covens and Black Family Structure for Reference

Ritual in the story requires the following people to participate:  a Summoner, an Innocent Child, and a Coven of Thirteen Witches/Wizards somehow connected to the summoner and spirit who are to act as Witnesses.

 

Role

| 

Universe 1: Potter Coven

| 

Universe 2: Black Coven  
  
---|---|---  
  
Summoner

| 

Lily Evans Potter

| 

 

| 

Sirius Orion Black

| 

   
  
Innocent Child

| 

Rosalyn Siria Potter

| 

 

| 

Harold (Harry) James Potter-Black

| 

   
  
Witness

| 

James Potter

| 

Bondmate to Lily, Father to Harry, Brother to Sirius

| 

Walburga Black

| 

Mother to Sirius, Matriarch of House Black  
  
Witness

| 

Dorea Black Potter

| 

Adopted Mother to Sirius

| 

Andromeda Black Tonks

| 

Cousin to Sirius  
  
Witness

| 

Charlus Potter

| 

Adopted Father to Sirius

| 

Theodore (Ted) Tonks

| 

Husband to Sirius’ Cousin  
  
Witness

| 

Remus Lupin

| 

Alpha Wolf and friend to Lily and Sirius

| 

Arcturus Black

| 

Lord of House Black, Grandfather to Sirius  
  
Witness

| 

Alice Longbottom

| 

Friend to Lily, Godmother to Harry

| 

Cassiopeia Black

| 

Great-Aunt to Sirius  
  
Witness

| 

Severus (Prince) Snape

| 

Friend to Lily

| 

Narcissa Black Malfoy

| 

Cousin to Sirius  
  
Witness

| 

Regulus Black

| 

Bondmate to Severus Snape, Brother to Sirius

| 

Melania MacMillan Black

| 

Grandmother to Sirius  
  
Witness

| 

Franciscus (Frank) Longbottom

| 

Friend to Lily and Sirius

| 

Lucretia Black Prewett

| 

Aunt to Sirius  
  
Witness

| 

Filius Flitwick

| 

Master to Lily

| 

Cedrella Black Weasley

| 

Great Aunt to Sirius  
  
Witness

| 

Minerva McGonagall

| 

Mentor to Lily, Godmother to James Potter

| 

Callidora Black Longbottom

| 

Great Aunt to Sirius  
  
Witness

| 

Andromeda Black Tonks

| 

Cousin to Sirius

| 

Cygnus Black

| 

Uncle to Sirius  
  
Witness

| 

Alastor Moody

| 

Mentor to Sirius

| 

Lucius Malfoy

| 

Bondmate to Sirius’ Cousin  
  
Witness

| 

Alphard Black

| 

Great Uncle to Sirius

| 

Severus Snape

| 

Guardian to Harry  
  
* * *

 

 

* * *

**Black Family Tree (for the sake of this story)**

In 1982, when the story takes place dd means dead in both Universes, d1/d2 means only dead in Universe 1 or 2.

 

                           Sirius Black II (dd)

                                    |                        

                          Procyon Black (dd) ---------------------- Castor Black (dd)

                                   |                                                                               |         

Alphard (d2) --- Arcturus (d1) --- Cassiopeia (d1)                 Pollux (dd) ---------  Cedrella  --------- Callidora (d1)

_Melania                                                      Evelyn (dd)                Septimus (d2)               Harfang (dd)_

_Macmillan                                                          ?                             Weasley                    Longbottom_

                                  |                                                                  |

  Dorea (d2) ------ Orion (dd)                    Walburga -------  Cygnus ----------- Lucretia --------- Marius

_Charlus (d2)           Walburga                       Orion (dd)            Druella  (dd)                 Ignatius                 (Squib)_

_Potter                    Black                              Black                     Rosier                       Prewett_

    |                              |                                   |                              |         

James (d2)          Sirius III (d1) ---------- Regulus (d2)       Andromeda ---- Bellatrix (d1) ----- Narcissa

_Lily (d2)              Evangeline                       Severus                Theodore         Rudolphus (d1)          Lucius_

_Evans             (bond d2 only)                  (Prince) Snape           Tonks               Lestrange               Malfoy_

    |                               |                                                             |                                                      |

Harry (d1)      Procyon (exist d2 only)                                  Nymphadora                                        Draco

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this work saved on my hard drive for a while. It's relatively open ended, but I figured that it's complete enough to stand alone even if I never get back to writing in this universe.


End file.
